New arena still city council priority

Friday

Aug 30, 2013 at 4:25 PM

Eric Curl

The Savannah City Council expressed support during a workshop Friday for keeping a new arena as a funding priority on November's sales tax referendum.

Aldermen said they would like the arena to remain on the city's lists of projects, despite learning from City Manager Stephnie Cutter that the county rejected their request to make $120 million for the arena a priority project that would receive funding before other projects.

Chatham County Chairman Al Scott said he did not want funds being withheld from the other municipalities, Cutter said.

The council also has to reduce their funding request from $303 million to $190 million, Cutter said.

She recommended the council select a site for the arena without conducting a planned location study of four locations.

The council had expressed support for locating the arena west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, north of Gwinnett Street, where the arena was originally expected to go when the referendum went to vote in 2006.

The council recently took a tour of the location, as well as the three other sites, which included the existing Civic Center.

Council members said they liked the Gwinnett site because the city had already purchased property in anticipation of locating it there to be close to Interstate 16 and serve to revitalize west Savannah communities.

The council is expected to make a formal vote on the arena at their meeting on Sept. 5.

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